But up first, as we said, is The Last Knight. The teaser trailer was released earlier this month and boy did it tease a doozy: it depicted Optimus Prime and Bumblebee fighting. Yes, the two old pals, mentor and protégé of sorts, were locked in fisticuffs, the Autobot leader giving Bee a sound pounding. There are a number of theories as to what’s going on there, but what we do know is that it promises an intriguing storyline for our favorite yellow robot, and it may well lead directly into the plot of his solo flick.
Forming a roughly 11-inch figure when fully assembled, Diablock Convoy is highly articulated, using 12 ball-jointed block pieces, giving him a range of motion similar to Masterpiece Prime, with the exception of the head, which can only move up and down, not side-to side. Speaking of the head, it is by far the most stylised aspect of the figure, with no real attempt to approximate Prime's face or mouthplate inside a simplified helmet, mainly featuring only a reversed block that gives the odd impression of a cycloptic eye. It is possibly intended to actually represent his forehead grill, as a yellow block inside his head construction remains barely-visible through a slit in his face, possibly intended to represent the classic toy's yellow eyes.
The price per minifigure has definitely gone up in the past 5 years. You used to be able to get 4 minifigs (along with some other stuff) at the $9.99 price point, now these are $12.99. And there are fewer minifigs in most $19.99, $29.99, etc. sets now. Lego Minifigures Series 1 was $1.99 each, subsequent series $2.99 each – I know it’s supply and demand, but it still feels kind of exploitative. I admit the cleverness of the builds keeps improving though.
These include two large guns, patterned after the new weapons included with the G2 version of the classic Optimus Prime toy, which can be attached to the trailer in a similar fashion to those of Powermaster Prime. Also included are two additional (blue) Prime heads, sculpted explicitly in the style of Generation 2 comic artist Derek Yaniger's interpretation of Prime, especially as seen on the cover of the first issue, one pristine and the other battle-damaged.
He comes with a shield with a fold-out handle, allowing Optimus to hold onto it with either hand in robot mode. It has a simple transformation gimmick for vehicle mode which is activated by pressing a button at the top of the shield, causing the sides to spring outwards. In vehicle mode, the shield can be laid flat across the bed of the truck, attaching via a post on the back onto the truck’s trailer hitch. Alternatively, the bumpers on the shield can be rotated outwards, and the front can be bent down in order to form a new front end and hood for "battle vehicle mode", resembling the Stealth Force vehicle modes seen in Dark of the Moon.

In the Japanese exclusive Transformers: The Headmasters storyline (which replaced the "Rebirth" finale in Japanese continuity), Hot Rod appeared as part of Optimus Prime's inner circle. When Galvatron and his Headmaster warriors launched a devastating attack on Cybertron, Vector Sigma was damaged, and Hot Rod was sent to Earth to retrieve the Matrix. Recovering it, he returned it to Prime, only to be surprised when the ghost of Alpha Trion once again reformatted him into Rodimus Prime to help Optimus. After Prime's second death, Rodimus once again took command of the Autobots. However, when Scorponok destroyed Vector Sigma, Rodimus decided to leave the war, and left Fortress Maximus in command of the Autobots.

A gold chrome remold of the 2007 movie Leader Class figure by Hasbro Hong Kong. Limited to 88 units, with only 10 released to the public at the 2008 Animation and Comic Show convention; all of which were sold only to the first 10 people to spend more than HK$3,000 at the Hasbro booth. Because the figure is permanently fixed to the trophy base, it is no longer transformable.[131]
Although the animated series ended in the U.S. after The Rebirth, Optimus Prime continued to appear in animated sequences of Transformers toy commercials, progressing from Powermaster to Action Master. He even made an appearance as a computer-generated Combat Hero. Many episodes of the series were re-aired to promote Transformers: Generation 2. During these sequences, computer-generated scenes featuring key G1 characters are borrowed from Generation 2 commercials to serve as opening, closing, and commercial bumpers. Optimus Prime is shown in the opening and closing fighting Generation 2's Ramjet.
Hasbro's Toys R Us-exclusive 2003 reissue of Powermaster Optimus Prime was actually a modified version of Takara's then-recently reissued God Ginrai set. As such, the cab was partly constructed out of die-cast metal, vacuum-metalized plastic and had clear blue windows. The trailer was retooled so the super robot's fists could slide in and out of the arms. This set also included the originally Japanese-exclusive Apex Bomber drone trailer that attached onto the back of Optimus Prime's trailer in vehicle mode, and could become extra armour in super robot mode.The missiles where unchromed and lengthened due to safety issues as opposed to the Japanese release which were chromed and shorter.
Like all Predacons Rising releases, the Optimus Prime/Predaking two-pack was exclusive to Target stores in the United States and Canada and to Tesco stores in the UK, and is also supposed to be exclusive to Carrefour elsewhere in Europe (presumably in France and/or Spain, though there have been no sightings as of yet). It has also been found at Rossmann drug stores in Germany and Ripley stores in Chile and popped up at BigW stores in Australia much later, in mid-2014. Also, like all Predacons Rising multi-pack redecos of Beast Hunters Cyberverse figures, the Cyberverse logo is nowhere to be found on the packaging.
Released to celebrate the Year of the Goat, Platinum Edition "Year of the Goat" Optimus Prime is a redeco of Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime, featuring the same discs lacking the G2 Autobot logo found on the Robots in Disguise Scourge version of the mold, but otherwise keeping all the electronics from the original release. Like Year of the Goat Soundwave, Year of the Goat Optimus Prime features an awkward mix of orange, black, clear pink (in some parts including missiles, the discs, and even the pump!), some clear blue (the missile's tips), translucent plastic, and some hint of chrome silver (mostly his trailer parts).
Hot Rod first appeared in the Headmasters limited series as one of the Autobot crew led by Fortress Maximus. He became a Targetmaster in the fourth and final issue of the series. However, his Targetmaster partner is called Sparks, instead of Firebolt (though the UK comic would occasionally call him Firebolt). Hot Rod made sporadic appearances, with a few UK stories starring him as the lead, but most of those were set in the past or future. Kup's Story revealed the first meeting between Kup and Hot Rod, and how Hot Rod's influence shook Kup out of depression; and Ark Duty starred Hot Rod and set up the creation of Autobot City. Hot Rod debuted in the main continuity after the loss of many wars to the Underbase powered Starscream, as part of Fortress Maximus' group. He served as an eager soldier who idolized Optimus. However, he was killed during the Decepticon ambush on Klo in the last issue of the Marvel G1 comic, only to be resurrected by Prime and the Last Autobot.
Undeniably, the most iconic of Bumblebee’s alternate modes is his original: the small but always reliable classic yellow Volkswagen Beetle. It was evocative of his personality, always striving to go above and beyond what everyone perceived to be the limits of his size. These days, thanks to the Michael Bay live-action movie franchise, he’s known as a modern Chevrolet Camaro, which looks cool but as a strong muscle car deviates from his personality. At least it’s still yellow? Bay says he didn’t want him to be a Beetle anymore because there was already an iconic movie Beetle: Herbie the Love Bug.
Surely one of the strangest examples of licensed Transformers products, Sports Label Convoy transforms into a shoe. Something of a shellformer, this baffling incarnation of Prime is colored primarily white and red in his alt mode of a realistic-looking (if notably undersized) Nike Free 7.0 sneaker, complete with gratuitously long real fabric shoelaces. In robot mode, he is made instantly recognizable by his incorporation of some additional blue and silver in predictable areas, and a traditionally Prime-styled head. Less traditionally, and somewhat perversely, Prime's feet are sculpted in the likeness of his own sneaker mode, making it seem like he's wearing himself!

The Animated Tech Spec written by Derrick J. Wyatt in Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #24 states that Rodimus as having the rank of Prime and clearly being the leader of a team like Optimus and Sentinel. His toy is listed as "Rodimus Minor" which Hasbro explained at San Diego Comic-Con 2009, was because "there were already too many Primes in the toy line". Within the series, he is only ever called or credited as "Rodimus".

Many of the small features and electronics of the original Masterpiece mold are left out. Instead, this Convoy features better overall cartoon accuracy (chest interior, head, etc.), an extensive red paint job that covers much of his red plastic, corrected robot mode proportions, improved articulation, and its gun can now collapse and store inside a compartment on its back in either mode. In addition to Convoy's trailer, which can transform into Combat Deck, it also comes with Roller, a small Spike Witwicky figurine, a die-cast metal Matrix of Leadership (with a clear blue plastic center), and an energy axe that slips over Convoy's right hand. Spike can fit inside the cab in vehicle mode, ride in Roller's seat, or fit into any of the seating compartments inside Convoy's trailer. Roller has options to plug in Convoy's gun or pull Convoy's trailer, and the trailer itself can store Convoy's weapons in any mode. Although not easily breakable, care must be taken for posing the index fingers; extending the finger even far would cause it to pop off.
Transformers: Energon introduced several new concepts to the toy line. Two new sub-groups, the Omnicons and Terrorcons, joined the fray, representing smaller factions of the Autobots and Decepticons respectively. The smaller toys in these sub-groups came with Energon weapons that could be used by the larger Autobots and Decepticons, along with Energon chips that could be fastened to the larger figures to enhance their power. Energon weapons and chips came in a variety of colors of translucent plastic. Many Autobot figures in the line were able to combine with a partner to form a larger robot through the "Powerlinx" process. The Decepticons were designed instead with alternative "attack modes". While no longer the focus of the line, there were several Mini-Con releases in Energon as well.
TFcon has announced their latest guest update: Bill Ratner! People will recognize Ratner as the voice of Dashiell Faireborn in the Transformers Generation 1 cartoon. He is also better known by his code name Flint in G.I. Joe. TFcon 2019 is earlier than normal, taking place in Los Angeles, California from March 15-17. The guest roll call already includes Michael Bell, Neil Ross, Alan Oppenheimer, Paul Eiding, Arthur Burghardt, Michael Horton, Morgan Lofting, Jack Lawrence, Alex Milne, Donald - Read More
The figure also comes with two gun accessories, the "Eliminator Gun" and "Assault Blaster", which combine into the "Mega Striker", a rifle that closely resembles the one used in Dark of the Moon. The separate guns also have a MechTech-style transformation, and pulling a lever transforms them into alternate crossbow-like shapes. In "battle vehicle mode", the sides of the truck are rotated up, and the guns can be attached by small pegs to holes in the modified smokestacks, or they can plugged into any of the standard connection points with their 5mm posts... except the ones on the hinge behind the cab, since those are supposed to be for his Energon battle blades.
In late 1993, Hasbro relaunched the Transformers franchise with the Generation 2 line, with production again largely being done by Takara. The subgroups concept was done away with for the first year, but there were no new molds or characters. Generation 2 re-used the molds for many of the characters from the 1984 and 1985 line, but with mostly different color schemes and finishes, as well as different weapons and accessories. Megatron's figure was released later on. As noted previously, Megatron's original alternate mode, or "transformation identity", was a handgun with attachments, but in Generation Two, this was changed to a tank due to safety and security concerns. Most of the 1994 figures were re-releases or recolors of European G1 releases.